How to submit good bug reports

Bugs are unexpected defects, faults, flaws, or imperfections in a computer program. Our developers want to know about all reproducible bugs that may be encountered on our website.

For this information to be useful and enable us to resolve the bug, we need detailed and specific information. Please be aware that incomplete or inaccurate reports waste valuable time and may even be discarded if the bug cannot be reproduced or we are unable to understand the details.

When you are thinking about reporting a bug, please follow these guidelines below.

Before you complete or submit a bug report:

Make sure you aren't duplicating work by visiting the Reported Bugs list.
Make sure you are using the latest available release for your browser.
Make sure the issue is duplicatable. Try another browser as well.
Note: Due to the sensitive nature of the data in our tracking system, no public list of known bugs is available.

Completing a bug report

The following provides tips and guidelines for completing the Bug Report.

Language

Please write in English. We generally cannot process reports in other languages. Translating bug reports takes additional time and resources. Even though we may sometimes try to find a way to translate a report, it may not always be possible and we therefore cannot guarantee resolution.

One bug per report

Do not include multiple bugs in one report. If you have seen more than one problem, file separate reports to keep them distinct from each other.

Severity: What kind of a problem is this?

Choose from the following:

Other problem - A bug that should probably warrant a fix before the next release
Security issue - A bug that impacts the security of data or your computer
Crashes Browser - Browser becomes unusable after the bug is encountered

Component: Where is the problem?

Choose from the following:

Web page problem - issues with how a page is rendered, including issues with forms, images, or errors
Mail, news & feeds - issues with eMail, news client, or download or display of newsfeeds
File Downloads - issues related to file downloads
Not sure/Other - problems that do not fall under the above categories

Description: Brief summary of the problem encountered

Summarize the problem in one sentence. Make it as descriptive and specific as possible while still keeping it brief.

URL: What URL triggers this bug, if any?

If the bug is related to one page in particular or there is a page that clearly demonstrates the bug, please include it. This information helps us reproduce the bug, so when at all possible, please include at least one URL.

Reproduce the bug: Describe in 3 steps or more how to reproduce this bug

Make sure that the bug is reproducible, that is, when you perform the same actions as the first time you encountered the bug, you will encounter the same bug again. Include the specific steps needed to reproduce the bug with as much detail as possible. In the following fields, include what you expected to happen, and what actually did happen.

Contact details: Optionally, provide an e-mail address where we can contact you

Include your e-mail address so that we can contact you to get more information about the bug if necessary.

Upload a File:

You can include any relevant screenshots, crash logs, or archive to help us quickly identify what you are seeing. Note: There is a 3mb limit

Submitting a bug report

Read through your bug report and check all the details before pressing the Submit report button. When you submit your report:

If you filled out the contact info you will get an e-mail
your bug will be manually processed by the team IT Deputy Commission. Please note that unless more information is needed, you will not get a personal response.

Thank you for taking the time to help us make an even better website!